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Wàng Yuè Huái YuǎnGazing at the Moon, Thinking of One Far Away 望月怀远
"Over the sea the bright moon rises": missing someone under the moon, a mid-autumn poem.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
海上生明月
hǎi shàng shēng míng yuè
天涯共此时
tiān yá gòng cǐ shí
Simplified characters; traditional title: 望月懷遠. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.
English translation
Over the sea the bright moon rises;
at the ends of the earth we share this moment.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
"Over the sea the bright moon rises": missing someone under the moon, a mid-autumn poem. The scene stays with you.
Background
"Over the sea the bright moon rises": missing someone under the moon, a mid-autumn poem.
Key words
- 海上 hǎi shàng
- on the sea; over the sea
- 生明 shēng míng
- giving birth to light; growing bright
- 天涯 tiān yá
- the sky's edge — the far ends of the earth
About the poet: Zhang Jiuling
Zhang Jiuling was an upright chief minister under Emperor Xuanzong who warned against An Lushan. His poems are elegant and restrained.
Lifetime: 678–740. Other famous works: Seeing White Hair in the Mirror (照镜见白发); Gazing at the Moon, Longing for One Far Away (望月怀远); Gazing at the Moon, Thinking of One Far Away (望月怀远).